Princess of the Universe
by Skytower1
Summary: The real reason Diane Chambers did not make it back to Cheers.(Cheers/FraggleRock)


The Real reason Diane Chambers didn't get back to Cheers!

PRINCESS OF THE UNIVERSE

Diane Chambers sat on a rock and stared out at the sea, her

soul seeking peace within the waves. After a while she took

a small book out of her beach bag and opened it. Taking a

pen from her pocket she began to write.

Dear Diary

Well here I am, alone. I know, I know just a few days ago

I was all set to be Mrs. Sam Malone but (as usual) something

went wrong. Sumner Sloan (remember him?) stopped by Cheers

as the wedding was taking place and told me my book had a

chance to be published. So, taking my leave of Sam I took

the publishers advance and came here, to this charming place.

But now I find myself unable to write, did I leave Sam

forever? Will I ever see him again? Do I wish too? While

in truth the attraction he and I felt was always...

"Ouch!" Diane shouted jumping up suddenly. The crab that

had crawled up her skirt fell to the sand and began to crawl

away.

"How dare you ruin my train of thought." Diane scolded.

She sat down and started to write again but gave up after a

few futile attempts. Sighing she stood up and started to

walk back to the inn.

It was a long walk from the shore to the inn and Diane

recited the Illiad to herself. The poem had seen her through

some hard times before and would hopefully clear her mind

now. So lost in her thoughts was Diane that she failed to

see a frisbee wiz past her head. However she could not help

but notice the dog that chased it. He knocked her down.

"Heavens!" she yelled. The dog seemed to view her as

merely another obstacle to his goal of the frisbee and

struggled to scramble away from her. He finally managed too

do so by planting his feet on her stomach and leaping off.

Leaving Diane in a heap on the ground gasping for breath.

"Sprocket!" Diane looked up and saw an old man walking

toward her. "Sprocket!" he called again. The dog came

trotting over to them, proudly carrying the frisbee.

"Sprocket can't you be more careful?"

The old man bent down and for a moment Diane was reminded

of Coach, one of the bartenders at Cheers. He had an old

weather beaten face with clear eyes that peered from behind

wire framed glasses.

"Are you alright Miss?"

"I think so." Diane said, slowly getting to her feet.

"I'm sorry about him but when Sprocket goes after something

he doesn't let much slow him down.

Sprocket barked and threw the frisbee to her.

"Well isn't that nice, he wants you to throw it for him."

"Yes, very nice."

For a moment the three of them stood there, then Diane

realized they were waiting for her to throw the frisbee.

Drawing her arm back Diane hurled the small piece of plastic

with all her might.

It proceeded from them at a high speed and landed three

feet away.

"Grouf." Sprocket said.

"You have to use your wrist more." Doc told her, picking it

up and demonstrating.

By sundown that evening Diane had not only introduced

herself to Doc, she had told him of her romantic problems

at Cheers, expounded on the joys of Elizabethan Poetry and

finally expressed her views on the current state of the world

financial system.

All Doc had managed to tell her about himself was that he

was an inventor who lived alone with his dog Sprocket. As

the sun set the three of them walked back to the inn. Diane

accepted Doc's is invitation to see his workshop and then

have dinner.

"Oh this is very quaint." Diane said. Doc's workshop was

in the basement of a small house a few hundred feet from the

inn. It was crammed with scientific equipment and

instruments. On the floor was also a large basket with a

small bowl beside it. Sprocket trotted over to the basket

and settled in, then looked expectantly at the bowl.

"Grouf."

"He wants food." Doc explained.

"You have mail." Diane noticed. She bent down and picked

up a small group of envelopes that were just inside the door.

"Probably more bills." Doc said, taking the letters from

her he quickly went through them, throwing all but one onto

the workbench.

"Another postcard for Gobo Fraggle." Doc said dropping the

postcard into the wastebasket. "Someone is always sending me

mail addressed to someone else." he explained to her.

He reached under the workbench to get a can of dog food and

a particularly elaborate piece of equipment caught Diane's

eye.

"What ever is this?" she asked, walking over to the device.

It looked something like a laser, though the amount of

circuitry attached suggested a more exotic purpose.

"Oh that's a piece of salvage I picked up from an auction

last week." Doc said, opening a cabinet. "It came from the

estate of some eccentric, I think his name was Dr. Shrinker

or something like that. I don't know what it does yet. I'm

not even sure it works."

Unnoticed by either Diane or Doc a small creature observed

them. Sprocket noticed however, he had been watching that

same hole in the wall since the day he and Doc had moved into

the workshop. Small, strange creatures lurked within that

hole. Someday he was going to catch one and prove it.

"I'm sorry I think I left Sprocket's dog food in the

kitchen. Do you mind waiting for a moment while I get it?"

"Not at all."

Doc left and Diane looked around, fascinated by all the

tools.

"The trappings of an inventor." she whispered to herself.

"He is much like Thereu." Diane told Sprocket. "Living a

life of quiet solitude."

"Grouf." Sprocket replied putting his head down on his

folded paws.

Diane was just about to take out her diary and jot down a

poem about Doc and his life when these things happened.

A small orange furry creature ran out of the hole in the

workshops wall and ran over to the wastepaper basket.

Sprocket jumped up, bumping the laser in his haste. He

started to go toward the Fraggle and there was a blinding

flash of light. When Sprocket's eyes cleared there was

no sing of either the Fraggle or Diane. But the laser was

smoking badly.

Diane felt a bit of discomfort and then the world changed.

She was in a huge chamber with flashing lights and a huge

hairy creature was rampaging around the room. Screaming in

terror Diane ran toward the only safe opening she could see.

It led to a cave and she kept running in blind terror.

Further ahead of her Diane could see another figure running.

She followed it, taking every turn it did. Finally she took

one turn too many and ran into a low ceiling. Blackness

claimed her.

Diane woke up feeling stranger than she had ever felt in

her life. It wasn't just the aching head, she had felt that

many times before, it was the way her body felt. Wrong

somehow, as if... as if...

Curiouser and Curiouser, Diane thought to herself. That

was it, that was how she felt. Somehow she had the feeling

that Alice had felt the same way after the fall down the

rabbit hole. Now why should I think that?, Diane wondered.

She became aware of voices around her, strange voices that

sounded both young, yet not young.

"What is she?" asked a high sounding voice to her left.

"She looks like a silly creature."

"That small? Gobo where did she come from?"

"She followed me Red."

"We better keep away from her." said a nervous sounding

person from somewhere to her right. "She might be

dangerous."

"Dangerous how?" asked a voice above her.

"She's from outer space, she might be carrying strange

germs. We shouldn't even be here."

"I beg your pardon." Diane said, her sense of dignity

forcing her to speak out. Sitting up she opened her eyes and

looked around.

She was in a cave, small alcoves were cut into the walls

forming sleeping places and closets. A small fire smoldered

softly in one of them. For a moment Diane and the Fraggles

stared at each other. She would always remember the absence

of being threatened as her first impression of them. Later

Diane would comment that it was unusual for a person in her

position not to feel threatened. But Gobo would tell her

that few in The Rock (as the Fraggles called their home) ever

felt threatened.

They were all a little smaller than she was, furry, though

the fur came in all colors, and they all had tails with

little puffs of fur on the end. The one closest to her was

taller than the rest, nearly Diane's height and her fur was a

green type of color. She wore a poncho type of garment, like

her fur green in color. Under the poncho she wore a vest

that looked like it was woven from strips of cloth. Around

her neck on a string was the pull top from a soda can.

Behind her stood the one Diane had glimpsed briefly in Doc's

workshop. He was orange, of a shade she had never seen

before, with pink hair. He wore a striped shirt with a cyan

jacket and had a questioning face. In the doorway was a

grey/green sort of fraggle, he had red hair that covered his

eyes and a cap that covered most of the hair. Around his

neck was worn a scarf. Standing beside him was a fraggle

with her hair done up into red/pink pom-poms rising out of

her head. She wore a red sweater as well. Another one was

on the ledge to her left and he seemed the smallest of them

all. He wore a flower covered shirt and his hair was a sort

of white. They all had large eyes and reminded Diane of the

Muppets.

The fraggles in turn saw Diane as a thin silly creature

dressed in a blue skirt, white blouse and nearly a head

taller than all of them. Her hair was blonde and she had a

soft, round face. Clutched in her hand was a carry bag of

some sort.

"I," Diane pronounced, shock allowing her the luxury of

falling back on her social instincts, "do not carry germs."

"It's awake!" the one at the doorway shouted. He would

have fled had not the one with the red sweater grabbed him.

"Boober if she was carrying germs we'd be done for by now

anyway." the one closest to Diane said. "She doesn't look

dangerous."

"Thank you."

"Your welcome, my name is Moki."

"I'm Diane."

"Well that's a nice name." Moki pointed to the fraggle with

the striped shirt. "That's Gobo."

"Hello."

"Hi." Diane said, wondering if handshakes were appropriate.

"I'm Wembley." said the fraggle in the alcove above her.

"How do you do?"

"I'm Red." said the one with two red pom poms.

"Pleased to meet you." Diane said.

"What are you?" Boober asked, coming in a few steps from

the doorway.

"Uh, I'm a human. A woman really."

There was a chorus of "oh's" from the fraggles.

"Excuse me but Where am I? How did I get here?"

"Your in Fraggle Rock, the center of the universe." Gobo

said.

"The center of the universe?"

"At least that's what my Uncle Traveling Mat always calls

it."

"Oh." Somehow this was not the answer Diane wanted. "How

did I get here?"

"I don't know." Gobo said. "I went up to get my uncles

postcard like I always do, the big hairy monster tried to

catch me like he always does, then there was a bright light

and you were chasing me down the tunnel."

Diane searched her memory, nothing Gobo said sounded wrong

to her, but none of it sounded quite right either.

"I remember the light." she stood up and started to pace,

the fraggles gave her room. "Then I was in the huge room of

some sort and there was a big hairy monster... Then I was

running... Then I'm here."

"But how could you come after me?" Gobo asked. "No silly

creature could fit through the hole in the wall."

A flash of knowledge came to Diane, for a second everything

fit into place. Then she denied it.

"It couldn't be, Dr. Shrinker? Could I have been shrunk

somehow? No, its not possible." She sat down.

"Sure it is." Red told her.

"What shrinking?"

"And growing." Moki told her. "Magic like that happens all

the time in Fraggle Rock."

"There's no such thing as magic." Diane declared.

"Then how did you get here?" all the Fraggles chorused.

"I must be dreaming. That's it, I am having a child-like

dream to escape my emotional problems with Sam." Once again

she started to pace, talking more to herself than to the

fraggles. "It is a very understandable physiological

reaction to extreme stress, one fantasizes. The body

produces too much..." she paused, then started again. "Well

perhaps not the body, the mind under too much stress retreats

into fantasy. Of course now that I've recognized the

phenomena for what it is I will of course wake up."

Pleased with her reasoning Diane stopped pacing,

straightened her cloths and waited for her reasoning to bring

her back to reality.

"What did she say?" Wembley asked.

"I don't know, did you understand any of it Moki?"

"No Gobo, did you Red?"

"Not a word."

They all looked at Boober.

"What? I'm sorry I wasn't listening."

"This can not be happening!" Diane burst out.

"She's going to attack us!" Boober shouted. Before anyone

could stop him he had run out of the chamber.

"That wasn't very nice." Moki said. "You shouldn't go

around shouting at people."

"I'm sorry." Diane apologized. "Its just that I can not

believe what has happened to me, I'm not even sure I'm here."

"Well if your not sure your here where are you?" Wembley

asked.

Though Doc had never had a fire in his workshop before that

didn't mean he couldn't handle one. He could, which worked

out well considering that when he came back to the workshop

the shrinking machine was on fire. Grabbing a fire

extinguisher Doc put the fire out and then asked Sprocket

what had happened. All he could get from the dog was that

the machine had started smoking and Diane ran away.

Diane looked at the workshop from the small fraggle hole,

it did indeed look bigger. More alarming than the size

however was the fact that the shrinking machine was gone.

Doc and Sprocket had just come back in.

"Well I guess that takes care of that." Doc said, hanging

his coat up. "To bad about all those components but once you

short out a power lead that's it. You know Sprocket I wonder

what that thing did?"

"Grouf." Sprocket said, settling down into his basket.

"Oh well it doesn't matter, you wait here I'm going to see

if I can find Diane. I hope the fire didn't scare here too

much."

"Doesn't matter?" Diane whispered to herself, in shock she

leaned against the wall of the cave. "That thing was the

only hope I had of being normal again and he says it doesn't

matter?"

"You mean that funny looking thing shrunk you down to

fraggle size?" Gobo asked.

"Yes, and without it I'm stuck here."

Diane walked dejectedly down the passageway that linked

Doc's workshop with Fraggle Rock, normally she would have

curious about everything, not so now. Little matter to her

that she might not have been right, that there might not have

been a way to reverse the effect of the shrinking ray. In

her mind that had not even been a consideration.

"Come on it's not so bad." Gobo said, trying to cheer her

up. "I mean the rock is the best place in the universe."

"Your universe Gobo, not mine. It's nice here but it's

just not my world. There has got to be someway out of this."

"Maybe we should ask the Trashheap." Gobo suggested.

"Trashheap?"

"Sure, all we have to do is get past the Gorgs and she

should be able to tell us how to get you big again."

They walked along in silence for a few more feet until

Diane gave into the pressure and finally asked.

"Gobo, what is a Gorg?"

When they got back to the center of the rock Diane saw that

all of the fraggles were clustered around a tall tower that

seemed to be built of clear thin plastic strips.

"Snack time." Gobo shouted. Leaving her staring at the

tower he joined the rest of the fraggles. Moki moved away

from the crowd and came up to her.

"Are you hungry?" Moki asked.

"A little." Diane admitted.

"Well come on, I'll show you around the rock while we eat."

While Diane was not convinced Fraggle Rock was the center

of the universe she found the place endlessly fascinating.

At least once she had calmed down enough to look around. The

Rock seemed to be an actual rock, either carved out by

natural forces or by the fraggles themselves. Pathways and

ramps were everywhere, as were more fraggles than she could

count. Here and there Diane could see pipes, man made ones

that ran in and out of the walls. Where was she? Could she

be in the wall of, or perhaps under Doc's workshop?

Moki pointed out a few landmarks, a huge horn stood in the

center of a community gathering spot. She explained that it

was used to summon all of the fraggles for a meeting or a

party. A large pool of water, fed by a pipe stood in the

center. Spaced unevenly in all directions were more towers

and some bridges, all made out of the same thin clear

material. Diane and Moki stopped near the pool.

"Are you thirsty?" Moki took a wooden cup from a hook near

the fountain and filled it, then handed it to her.

Diane took a sip of the water and was grateful that it

tasted like water, she had the idea it might have tasted like

wine. Or at least that was what water had always tasted like

in her dreams before, and she was dreaming wasn't she?

"Thank you." she put the cup back on the hook and Moki led

her over to a particularly tall tower that gleamed in the

light. Around it small men worked. The men were about five

or so inches high with green skin. Even the fraggles towered

over them.

"What are those?"

"Those are Doozers." Moki explained.

"Doozers?"

"Sure, come on I'll introduce you."

They walked a little past the group of fraggles that was

gathered around the base of the tower and Moki ducked under a

bridge made out of the same material.

Now that they were closer Diane saw that the Doozers looked

less like men and more like two balls of green cotton with

arms and legs. They were dressed in white hard hats and wore

tool belts and boots of the same color. Moki stopped infront

of one of the bridges and after a few seconds one of the

Doozers rolled out to greet her. He was riding a small three

wheeled bike, though what drove it Diane couldn't guess.

"Hi Cotterpin." Moki said. "This is my friend Diane."

"Hi." the Doozer said, his voice was quite high, almost

managing to sound like a little girl.

"Greetings." Diane said, loosing herself in the beauty of

the towers construction. If the Doozers had indeed built

this they were magnificent engineers.

"Your a funny looking Fraggle." Cotterpin said.

"I'm not a..." Diane started to correct him when Red threw

herself against one of the towers supports and bit it off.

The construction tottered for a few seconds, then fell into

the midst of the other fraggles who each grabbed a piece of

it.

So lost was Diane in shock that she didn't notice Moki dart

into the group and come back with two sticks.

"Have one?"

"What? How could you destroy that tower? The Doozers must

have worked very hard on it."

"That's ok, they'll build another one tomorrow."

"Doesn't it bother you that the fraggles eat everything

that you build?" Diane asked Cotterpin.

"Nah. If they didn't eat them we'd run out of room sooner

or later."

"He's right." Gobo said, coming over to them. "Once we all

stopped eating Doozer constructions and it only took a week

for them to run out of space. Doozers can only build, they

can't knock down."

"What a strange system." Diane said, she took a small bite

out of the stick Moki had brought her.

"Cabbage." she muttered. "A little cinnamon, maybe just a

hint of salt."

"It's one of the architects better recipes." Cotterpin

said. "Good-bye, I have to help clear the space for the next

tower."

He sped off and Diane helped herself to another piece of

the tower. "Delicious, almost like bread sticks but with a

little more starch."

"After we eat I'm taking Diane to the Trash heap." Gobo

told Moki. "Maybe she might be able to tell Diane how to get

back to outer space."

"But why do you want to go?"

"Yea." Red said, coming up behind them. "I mean if Gobo's

uncle is right outer space is weird."

"It may be weird but it is my home." Diane said. "Though

in truth it would be nice to linger in the Rock for a time,

but no, I have a book due at the editors desk in a mere four

months. I have to go back. Then there's Sam to think about.

We have to settle things."

"Well come on." Gobo said. "It's safest to go now while

the Gorgs are eating lunch."

The creature stood about fifteen feet tall, enormous in

bulk and girth. Basically man shaped he was covered in thick

brown/yellowish fur, large eyes sat above a huge nose and a

mouth that seemed to open only from the bottom. He wore a

patched shirt and boots.

"That's Junior Gorg." Gobo said, pointing.

"Really." Diane said, estimating the height of the

creature. She estimated it about fifteen feet. At her

present height that meant that Junior...

Diane put that thought out her mind, the gorg was obviously

a vegetarian. She hoped.

"He looks like one of those overweight wrestlers Sam is

always admiring." Diane muttered to herself. Aloud she said:

"Where is the Trashheap."

"Just beyond the garden." Gobo said. "All we have to do is

get by Junior."

"How easy is that?"

"Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't."

Diane was by no means pleased by the fraggles statement,

she was also by no means convinced that this wasn't a dream

of some sort, but if it wasn't a dream...

Junior turned his back and Gobo grabbed her arm and pulled

her out of the hole.

"Come on." he said.

Diane followed and they ran past the Gorg before he turned

around.

"You are in the presence of the all knowing."

"All seeing."

"Trash heap."

"Neahh."

Diane stared curiously at the two rats, they had recited

the speech naturally, indeed pompously. Unlike others of her

sex Diane had never been frightened by small rodents, hearing

them talk however was another matter. If the rats talking

unnerved her though it was nothing compared to see the pile

of refuse shake, quiver and finally form itself into the

semblance of an old woman.

"Greetings madam heap." Gobo said formally.

"Hi sonny, who's your friend?"

Her voice even sounded like an old womans voice.

"This is Diane. She's a silly creature that accidentally

got shrunk. She wants to know how to grow again and get back

to outer space."

"Well this is a new one."

"Excuse me?"

"What is it honey?"

"Your a trash heap."

"Of course I am, what do I look like?"

"I'm sorry, its just that where I come from piles of

garbage don't just start talking, much less dispensing

wisdom."

"So."

"Can you help me?" Diane asked, realizing that further

conversation as to weather or not things were real would be a

waste of time.

"Sure I can, I'm all knowing. All you need to do is take a

bite from this mushroom."

The trash Heap reached down and grabbed a mushroom from the

edge of herself, tossing it to her.

"Like Alice in Wonderland?" Diane asked, looking

uncertainly at the mushroom. She didn't recognize the

species.

"You know Alice? Great gal she is, hasn't been around here

in ages."

"I've heard of her." Diane said.

Next thing you know I'll be meeting the Scarecrow and the

Tin Woodsman, she thought. As Gobo and the Trashheap talked

Diane wondered if she could actually get to OZ from Fraggle

Rock, she had always wanted to meet Glinda.

"Well now comes the tricky part." Gobo said, he pointed to

the Gorg. "Sometimes its harder to get back to the Rock than

it is to get out of it."

They waited until Junior turned his back then Gobo took

off. Diane followed at her top speed, marveling at how fast

the small fraggle could move. Unfortunately it wasn't fast

enough. With a speed that denied his size Junior Gorg

turned, saw them and pounced.

He missed Diane but one hand closed around Gobo.

"Gotcha!" Junior shouted.

"Help!"

"Let go of him!"

"What? Who?"

Diane took the mushroom out of her bag and ate it, within

seconds she was back to her normal height.

Which, sadly, was about three feet shorter than Junior

Gorg. Stunned he dropped Gobo, his attention centered on the

strange and beautiful creature that stood before him.

"Who are you?" He asked, standing up.

"I am Diane Chambers." Diane said, her manner making it

clear that she was a person to be reckoned with. "How dare

you attack that creature, don't you have any sense of..."

Diane's voice faltered as she looked up at the gorg and was

suddenly reminded of the height difference.

"Wow! Are you married?"

Later on Diane would always kick herself for the answer she

was about to give, if she had exercised any of the intellect

she possessed she would have lied. Unfortunately she had

always been raised to tell the truth.

"No."

"Maw!" Junior grabbed her arm and dragged her over to a

small castle shaped house that stood a little apart from the

garden. "Paw! I got a princess!"

"Now wait a minute." Diane said, pulling away from him.

"While I admit that regal bearing is in my case an inborn

talent that does not mean you can just grab me like that."

Junior looked at her for a few seconds, his eyes opened

wide. Then he took her arm again and dragged her toward the

doorway.

"Maw! Paw! I caught a funny talking princess!"

A slightly smaller, purple gorg wearing a cape and a crown

came out of the castle.

"What are you talking about Junior?"

Behind him came another gorg, a woman if Diane's guess was

correct, she wore a dress and had long orange hair. She too

wore a crown. Both of stared in shock at Diane.

"What is that?" the king asked.

"This is a Diane, Daddy. I finally found a princess, just

like Maw always said I would."

"Oh happy days." the queen said.

"Nice going son, you now have a princess worthy of your

ancestors. Why with a little work she might even look as

good as your mother."

"Oh you flatterer."

"Now wait just a minute." Diane declared, pulling her arm

free of Junior's grasp. "Your majesty's obviously are highly

civilized, you could not think of letting me marry your son

without references."

"I told you she talks funny."

Diane was acting on instinct, shock once again allowing her

to fall back on her upbringing. She had often played as if

she was in a kings court with her cat Elizabeth. What was

worrying her was the fact that the mushroom, even if it had

worked in reverse, was gone. She had swallowed it whole

and without it she had nowhere to go.

"She's right." Ma said.

"By george she is. Speak your name maiden."

"I am Diane Chambers, my lord king." Diane said, preforming

a courtly bow.

"From whence came yee?"

"Boston, my lord king."

"Good enough for me."

"Me too." Junior said.

"I hereby make it unanimous." his mother cried. She took

Diane's arm and started to drag her toward the castle. "Come

along deary, I'll show you your new home."

Thus it was that Diane, despite all the protest she could

utter, became princess of the universe.

From the safety of the Fraggle hole Gobo watched as Diane

was dragged into the castle. He had to rescue her. As soon

as all they were all inside he left the hole and went to the

Trashheap.

"What'd ya think I got nothing better to do than grow

mushrooms?"

"But I have to rescue her." Gobo said. "I can't just let

her marry Junior."

"Might be the best thing for her."

"I don't think so."

"All right but I only got one mushroom left. Takes a while

to grow things you know."

"How long?" Gobo asked.

"About a year or two."

"A year or two?" The Trashheap nodded and Gobo considered,

he could leave Diane where she was until both mushrooms were

ready, or he could give her the one that was ready now.

"I might as well take the one that's ready now. After all

if she has to spend a year away from outer space I'm sure

she'd rather spend it with us Fraggles."

In her younger days Diane had often played at being a

princess, in her mind a princesses life was one of luxury,

with servants not only granting but anticipating her every

whim. She had certainly never imagined that a princess would

have the chores of a scullery maid.

But that was what a Gorg princess did, she cooked, cleaned,

chopped wood and generally did what the King and Queen told

her too. Junior explained that it was a matter of seniority,

his mother and father were older, therefor they made the

rules.

For three days she had done what they told her to do, there

was never a threat of punishment from the Gorgs if she

didn't, indeed aside from the kings war stories (which Diane

hoped were imaginary) and Juniors desire to "Thump" Fraggles

they were easy to get along with. They were also taller and

far stronger than she was. Besides the only way home for her

was back through Fraggle Rock. Even if she did run away from

the Gorgs where would she go? As she worked harder than she

had ever worked in her life Diane wondered where all those

nights on horseback she had always read about were?

Each night she was locked in a tower (another of the

queen's rules) and each morning Junior would come and

"rescue" her. Rescue meant that he would wake her up and she

would start to make breakfast while he worked in his garden.

After breakfast she would do the laundry, clean the castle

and would then sit for an hour while the queen painted her

picture into the royal family album. Then there would be

more cleaning, lessons in gorg etiquette and time spent

playing with Junior. After cooking dinner, washing the

dishes and spending time on guard duty Diane was then

escorted back to her tower and locked up again.

It had been explained that after Junior was done courting,

which could take anywhere from months to years, they would be

married. Diane hoped that Junior would take his time.

She had not seen Gobo since the day Junior had caught her

and the trash heap ignored her plea's for aide. Perhaps the

only bright spot in the situation was that each night before

she went to bed she recorded all she could about the Gorg's

and there ways in her diary, if nothing else they would make

a fine childrens book if she ever got back.

On her fourth night of captivity Diane had just finished

writing down the "Gorg Theory of Battle at Sea" when she

heard a soft whisper call her name. She paused, looking

around the room. The whisper was repeated and she saw Gobo's

head poking out of a crack on the mantle of her fireplace.

"Gobo!" she said, rushing over to him.

"Hi, are you ok?"

"Aside from having dishpan hands yes, where have you been?"

"I had to get another mushroom from the trash heap, it took

me a few days to find a way in here. Catch."

He threw the mushroom down to her and Diane caught it.

Putting her diary in her sea bag she quickly swallowed the

mushroom.

Almost as soon as she did so Diane realized her mistake,

within seconds she was once more Fraggle sized.

And Gobo was far to high for her to reach.

"Gobo!" Diane called, wondering why a person as smart as

she was, was making so many mistakes of late.

"Why did you eat the mushroom so fast?" Gobo called.

"I panicked." Diane admitted. "How do I get out of here?"

"Wait here, I'll get a rope."

He vanished into the wall and Diane looked around trying to

find some other way out of the room. None existed, even the

door was set too snugly into the frame for her to crawl under

it. For nearly the entire night she stood, waiting. Finally

Gobo re-appeared.

"Catch." he called as he let one end of the rope fall to

her. The other end was anchored to something inside the

wall.

Diane was about to grab the rope when she heard a knock on

the door.

"Are you awake my princess?" Junior called. "It is I, your

dashing prince come to save you."

"Just a minute." Diane called, using her sweetest voice.

"What do I do now?"

"Hide." Gobo advised.

"Hide." Diane hissed, she could have thought of that

herself.

The door started to open and Diane hid under the bed.

"Princes Diane?" Junior looked around the room. "Where are

you my love?" He looked around again and didn't see her.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a fraggle peering out

from a crack in the mantle. In flash he grabbed the small

creature.

"Gotcha, now where's my Diane?"

"Junior let him go."

"Huh?" puzzled the young Gorg looked around, he could hear

Diane but he couldn't see her.

"You heard me."

"Where are you?" Junior asked, looking everywhere for her.

"Outside in the garden." Diane said.

"The garden?" Junior put Gobo back on the mantle and raced

out of the room.

Once he was gone Diane raced over and tied the string

around her waist. She tried climbing but found it

impossible, she was just not strong enough.

"Hang on!" Gobo shouted. He signaled and the string was

pulled into the wall.

A minute passed and she was on the mantle when Junior

appeared in the doorway, seeing his princess about to

disappear through a crack in the wall he moved quickly.

Junior crossed the room in seconds and missed them by inches.

He did however grab the string that Diane had tied around her

waist.

"Come back princess." Junior said, pulling the string.

There was some initial resistance but that soon gave way and

Junior pulled the string back into the room. Diane however

was not attached too it.

"Dawg Gon-it!" he shouted. "I lost my funny talking

princess! Maw!"

Diane leaned against the wall of the cave listening to the

gorgs disappointment over her departure. Beside her Gobo,

Red, Boober, Moki and Wembley did the same.

"Thank you." Diane said. "For a while I thought it might

be my destiny to be a gorg princess."

"That's ok," Gobo said, "after all you did save me from

Junior. Come on, lets go."

They walked quietly through the passageways back to Fraggle

Rock. Gobo explained to Diane that there were dangerous

creatures who lived in the cracks in the gorg castle, that

was why he had taken so long to find her room. The only

danger they encountered before they got to the Rock itself

came when Diane was told how long it would take the Trashheap

to grow another mushroom.

"A year!" she shouted, awakening the great spider that

lived in the foundations of the castle. Luckily they

were able to loose the creature in a side cave.

When they finally got back to the great pool Diane took the

water Red offered her and considered what a year in Fraggle

Rock would mean. She would never get her book to the editor

on time, she would never see Sam, he would think she had no

interest if she missed the six month deadline they had both

set.

How would she explain the time away to her friends? More

importantly how could she explain Fraggle Rock without being

put into an insane asylum?

"Doozer stick?" Moki offered.

"Thanks." Diane took the stick and nibbled on it, this one

tasted a bit like strawberries.

"If you'd like you can stay with me in my cave." Moki said.

"I have plenty of room."

Diane stood up and paced, her mind racing. She'd loose the

publishers advance and probably be sued, she'd go to jail and

spend time with girls with names like "Moose" or "Rocko" if

she ever did tell anyone about Fraggle Rock she would either

be called crazy or laughed at.

Suddenly going back to "Outer Space" didn't seem like a

good idea to her.

"You can stay as long as you want." Moki said, trying to

keep up with Diane's pacing.

"You know I think I will." Diane said. "I like it here,

I don't have to worry about Sam or Fraiser or anyone else."

"You mean your not leaving when the Trashheap grows you

another mushroom?" Gobo asked.

"No I'm not." Diane said. "I'm staying in Fraggle Rock for

as long as you let me."

In response they all cheered and a party was planned for

the next day.

The next day the great Fraggle Horn was sounded, all the

Fraggles gathered and were introduced to Diane. There

followed one of the greatest parties ever to be held in

The Rock.

That night Diane and Moki, who also had a fondness for

diary's and poems, exchanged notes on the occasion. As she

drifted off to sleep that night Diane wondered if she might

ever again see "Outer Space." Then she remembered all the

problems, romantic, financial, emotional and others she had

had in her life. Just before she fell asleep Diane decided

that "Outer Space" could stay in outer space. She was happy

where she was.

"Down in Fraggle Rock." Diane whispered.

END


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